This post is heavily skewed toward management. Unfortunately, that's typical in labor relations where everything is usually played out in hardball. Let's correct a few things:
1. The casting offices have not insisted on anything; they have asked the producers to sign a contract and, failing that, have asked the NLRB to require that the Teamsters be recognized as their collective bargaining agent.
2. There has been no "conclusion" because the matter is pending. The union has not insisted on anything other than having the Board adjudicate the case.
3. Instigate is an unnecessarily charged word.
4. The lawsuit filed by the League is part and parcel of the pending dispute. If the casting agencies are in fact entitled to bargain collectively, then there is no cartel and no antitrust violation. If they are not, then there is.
5. I have my doubts that the agencies can properly unionize. The most persuasive argument to me is that ATPAM exists as precedent. But I have my same doubts about the propriety of that. The only distinction is that they have been sanctioned as a union (for years).
In the context of hardball labor relations, there is nothing wrong with the casting directors seeking recognition, and there is nothing wrong with the League suing to protect its members' interests in the event they win before the Board. |
